Q5 Fantan Fighter Bomber

The Q-5 [Qiang-5 Attack-5, the export version being designated A-5] is a single-seat, twin-engine supersonic fighter developed by the Nanchang Aircraft Company of China.

It offers enhanced combat performance particularly at low and super-low altitude. It is the latest renovated type equipped with imported navigation and attack systems. It is used mainly to assist ground troops in attacking concentrated targets on land, key transportation points and ships near the coast. It can also intercept and fight enemy aircraft. It has two WP-6 after burning type of turbojet engines, a fuselage 15,65 meters long, a height of 4.33 meters, and a wingspan of 9,68 meters. Its maximum takeoff load is 11,300 kg.

It carries a cannon in each wing, mounted near the fuselage, and it can be loaded with air to air weapons. It can carry bombs and canisters in its hold and various kinds of bombs, rockets and spare fuel tanks in the racks under its wings.

This derivative of the J-6 fighter originated in August 1958 as a Shenyang design proposal. Reponsibility was assigned to Nanchang. The prototype program was cancelled 1961, but kept alive by small team and resumed officially 1963. The first flight came on 04 June 1965, with preliminary design certificate awarded and preproducton batch authorised late 1965. Further modifications were found necessary, leading to flight test of two much modified prototypes from October 1969. Series production was approved at the end of 1969, with deliveries beginning 1970.

A total of approximately 1,000 aircraft were built, of which nearly 600 were the improved Q-5A variant. An small number, perhaps a few dozen, of the Q-5As were modified to carry nuclear weapons.

PLAAF equipment holdings have improved only slowly, hampered by the need for hard currency, as most Chinese equipment upgrades have required foreign assistance. The upgrade of the Q-5 aircraft centers on the addition of French inertial guidance and attack systems, including a heads-up display and laser range-finder.

As Qiang-5 has been fitted with laser-ranging sensors, its strike accuracy has been greatly improved. The ALR-1 laser-ranging sensor and the heads-up laser-ranging fire control system, which consists of the new-type heads-up display and the air data computer, both have continuous computerized point-of-impact functions. The range of the ALR-1 laser-ranging sensor is 20-10,000 meters and its range precision is 5 meters. Its overall performance is roughly equivalent to that of the British 105D and the French TMV of the 1980s.

The wings are mid-mounted, sharply swept-back, and tapered with blunt tips and wing fences. Two turbojets are located inside the body with semicircular air intakes and two exhausts. The fuselage is thick, flattened, with an upward taper to the rear section. The tail flats are high-mounted on the body, swept-back, and tapered with square tips. The sharply swept-back tail fin has a blunt tip.

* Q-5: Original production version with a total of 6 pylons, one under each wing and four under the fuselage, and was superseded by the Q-5A.

* Q-5 nuclear bomber: Q-5A modified to carry nuclear bombs, only a very limited number were built. One of such aircraft is currently on display at the aviation museum in Beijing.

* Q-5 torpedo bomber: Armed with Type 317 monopulse pulse doppler fire control radar that is also capable for terrain-following and terrain-avoidance, with a maximum range of 20 km. Although the small batch aircraft were satisfactory during the evaluation, they were soon withdrawn because the air defense of naval fleets has eliminated any chance of effectiveness by aircraft-launched torpedo attacks.[citation needed]

* Q-5 Anti-ship missile carrier: Replacement for the torpedo bomber armed with Type 317A (317甲) airborne radar, an improvement of the original Type 317, and the maximum range is increased to over 50 km. Only a very limited number entered the service and by the 1980s, these aircraft were withdrawn from front line service.

* Q-5I: Q-5A with the internal weapon bay replaced by internal fuel tank, increasing fuel capacity over 70%. Like all previous Q-5 variants, navigation was still a bottle neck resulting in aircraft must fly longer times in more complex search patterns in long range strikes. However, this problem is somewhat reduced by the increased fuel capacity.

* Q-5IA: The original weapon aiming sight of the Q-5 was developed by No. 5311 Factory, and named as SH-1, short for She - Hong (Shoot-Bomb-1 / 射轰-1), which only had limited capability because attacks could only carried out at a fixed angle. No. 5311 Factory developed an improved version SH-1I (射轰-1甲) to allow the attack to be carried out at different angles. To solve the navigation problem, the Type 205 pulse doppler navigation radar was developed and installed. A indigenous Type 79Y4 laser rangefinder developed by No. 613 Institute was fitted.

* Q-5IV: 28.8% change in comparison to the closest earlier version. Q-5III upgrade first appeared in the early 1990s. Two central computers like that of Q-5M and new RW-30 radar warning receivers were added. ALR-1 laser rangefinder and QHK-10 Head-Up Display developed by No. 613 Institute were added. Also known as Q-5D.

* Q-5F: Further development of Q-5E with semi-buried electro-optical targeting pod that not only included laser designator/ranger, but also infrared imaging and television cameras. The separated inertial navigation system and the GPS in the Q-5IV/E was replaced by the DG-1 integrated inertial navigation/GPS system.

* Q-5J: Tandem two seater of Q-5. The manufacturer claimed that it can be used as forward air control like the OA-10A, and providing targeting information via data links. The rear seat is 286 millimetres higher than the front seat, enables the back-seat pilot to have a 5 degree field of vision, and the canopy opens to the right. When used as a trainer, the rear cockpit control can override that of the front cockpit.

* Q-5K Kong Yun: (Kong Yun - Cloud) Joint Chinese-French project to upgrade Q-5II with French avionics, such as VE110 head-Up Display, ULIS91 inertial navigation system, TMV630 laser rangefinder and other electro-optics. Like the Q-5M/A-5M, the project was also cancelled after the Tiananmen Square protest of 1989.

* Q-5M: Export designation A-5M. Joint Chinese-Italian project to upgrade the Q-5II with Italian avionics from the AMX International AMX attack fighter. Avionics would include a ranging radar, head-up display, inertial navigation system, air data computer and dual central computers all integrated via dual-redundant MIL-STD 1553B databus. Completion and first deliveries were to take place in late 1988 and early 1989 respectively.[2] Although the project was eventually cancelled after the Tiananmen Square protest of 1989, the Chinese version of the radar was eventually used on J-7GB.[citation needed]

[edit] Export variants

* A-5: Export designation for version of the Q-5 to North Korea that appeared in Chinese media. The designation contains more than one variant since the Chinese miitary aid to North Korea is protracted, but it's not clear whether this export version is derived from Q-5, Q-5A, Q-5I or Q-5IA.

* A-5B: Export version of Q-5II with capability to launch western missiles such as the French R550 Magic Air-to-air missiles. Reported sold to Myanmar.

* A-5C: Export version of Q-5III with more western gears upon customers' requests, such as flight instrumentation made by Rockwell Collins, and western ejection seat made by Martin-Baker. Added the capability to fire western missiles such as the R550 Magic or AIM-9 Sidewinder. Exported to Bangladesh and Pakistan. Bangladesh Air Force's A-5Cs have been upgraded in 2008 to fire LS-6 and LT-2 ground attack munitions giving them advanced strike capability[3].

* A-5D: Export version of Q-5IV, with more western gear upon customers' requests, such as flight instrumentation made by Rockwell Collins, and western ejection seat made by Martin-Baker. Added the capability to fire western missiles such as the R550 Magic or AIM-9 Sidewinder. No sales reported. Program terminated because all resources on this program was diverted to support the Q-5E.

* A-5K: Export version of Q-5K with more western gears such as flight instrumentation made by Rockwell Collins, and western ejection seat made by Martin-Baker. Added the capability to fire western missiles such as the R550 Magic or AIM-9 Sidewinder. Cancelled with Q-5K after the Tiananmen Square protest of 1989.

* A-5M: Export version of Q-5M with more western gears such as flight instrumentation made by Rockwell Collins, and western ejection seat made by Martin-Baker. Added the capability to fire western missiles such as the R550 Magic or AIM-9 Sidewinder. Cancelled with Q-5M after the Tiananmen Square protest of 1989. Evaluated by the Pakistan Air Force in 1990.[4]